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Knikker

Unless you are still a child (that doesn’t like computer games) you will probably not shoot or play marbles anymore. There are however a few good expressions with "knikker" or the verb "knikkeren", see below.

Mind the pronunciation: in ‘kn’ the ‘k’ is always pronounced.

Examples:– "Ik ben gisteren bijna gevallen omdat er een knikker op de vloer lag in de keuken."("Yesterday I almost fell because there was a marble on the floor in the kitchen.")

– "Knikkers? Nee volgens mij verkopen we die niet, is dat de naam van een Nintendo-spel?"("Marbles? No I don’t think we sell those, is that the name of a Nintendo game?")

Expressions:– "Er is stront aan de knikker": we’re in trouble, there is trouble, the shit hits the fan etc. Lit.: "there is shit/crap on the marble", but my guess is that "knikker" might have a different meaning here.– "Zo kaal als een knikker": literally "as bald as a marble", this says you are really bald.– "Het gaat om het spel, niet om de knikkers": it’s not winning that counts, but taking part. Lit.: "It’s about the game, not about the marbles." There are several variations to this expression.– "Ik heb nog met hem geknikkerd": I know him from when we were young, lit.: "I used to play marbles with him".– "Iemand eruit knikkeren": to chuck somebody out. Usually out of a group activity, a team, job position etc.

Example:– "Na de slechte prestatie van het afgelopen jaar is de manager eruit geknikkerd."("Due to the bad performance of the past year the manager was chucked out.")

Related words:– Knikkeren: to play/shoot marbles [verb] [knikkerde, geknikkerd].– Knikkerspel: game of marbles [noun] [het spel, de spelen].– Potje: game [noun] [het potje, de potjes]. Also "pot", this is an informal synonym for "spel".

Example:– "Zullen we nog een potje knikkeren?"("Shall we play another game of marbles?")